October 2019 Sales Report: Kia, Hyundai And Honda Gain Ground, While Toyota And Nissan Slip

As ever, the Toyota RAV4 was America’s best-selling car last month. [Photo: Toyota]

While General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Ford and Tesla report their sales quarterly, other automakers reported their monthly sales from October. The month marked some notable improvements over this point last year, though some of the largest manufacturers lost ground. The month was also a mixed bag for some luxury brands.

This monthly sales report covers the best and worst-selling brands of the month by volume, as well as the changes over October 2018.

RankBrandOct 2019 SalesOct 2018 SalesMoM %
1Toyota165,644168,386-1.6%
2Honda117,486108,558+8.2%
3Nissan94,41798,082-3.7%
4Hyundai57,09452,653+8.4%
5Subaru55,53155,394+0.2%
6Kia50,00745,102+10.9%
7Volkswagen28,07229,000-3.2%
8BMW25,44023,262+9.4%
9Lexus23,14322,716+1.9%
10Mazda19,52018,673+4.5%
11Audi16,13019,350-16.6%
12Acura13,95713,624+2.4%
13Infiniti9,14611,880-23.0%
14Volvo8,8077,327+20.2%
15Mitsubishi7,3728,002-7.9%
16Porsche5,4474,817+13.1%
17Mini2,9623,166-6.4%
18Genesis1,935372+420.2%
Infiniti had a tough October, with brand sales falling 23 percent from last year.

This month’s winners and losers

While Toyota handily beat the competition on volume, the month-to-month shifts each company experienced also tell an interesting story. Sales for Toyota vehicles actually fell 1.6 percent from this point last year, while Nissan also feel 3.7 percent.

However, Honda and Hyundai both rose by over 8 percent (8.2 and 8.4 percent, respectively). Subaru held more or less steady, rounding out the top five brands. Kia sales picked up substantially, with a 10.9 percent improvement over October 2018. Mazda also saw a 4.5 percent rise on the backs of its crossovers.

Looking at luxury brands, BMW came out well last month with a 9.4 percent bump in its sales. Genesis is coming back from restructuring its dealer network, quadrupling their sales from the same time last year. Volvo sales were up 20.2 percent, while Porsche sales also rose 13.1 percent.

On the other hand, Audi sales fell 16.6 percent last month, while Infiniti plummeted 23 percent from October 2018. It’s worth noting that we’re missing several brands from this month’s report as FCA (Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Ram), Ford (including Lincoln), GM (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC) and Tesla won’t report their sales again until January.

2017 honda cr-v
The Honda CR-V nearly caught the Toyota RAV4 last month, selling 33,344 units. [Photo: Honda]

Best and worst-selling models

Crossovers dominated sales, as ever, with the Toyota RAV4 coming out on top. It sold 37,499 units in October 2019, followed by the Honda CR-V, with 33,344 sales.

BrandBest-selling modelWorst-selling model
AcuraRDX (5,888)NSX (15)
AudiQ5 (4,374)A8 (109)
BMWX3 (5,952)X6 (26)
GenesisG70 (1,021)G90 (289)
HondaCR-V (33,344)Clarity (635)
HyundaiElantra (13,583)Veloster (834)
InfinitiQX60 (3,604)QX30 (102)
KiaSorento (8,533)K900 (17)
LexusRX (9,271)LC (91)
MazdaCX-5 (10,970)MX-5 Miata (494)
MiniCountryman (1,176)Clubman (292)
MitsubishiOutlander Sport (2,203)Outlander PHEV (255)
NissanRogue (27,802)GT-R (25)
PorscheMacan (2,330)718 (239)
SubaruForester (15,910)BRZ (112)
VolkswagenTiguan (8,322)Passat (211)
VolvoXC90 (2,720)V90 CC (68)

Changes 11/4/2019: Changed the phrasing for Honda CR-V sales. The original article said the CR-V came in a “close” second, as the model did improve 19.8 percent over October 2018, while RAV4 sales improved 10.3 percent. While the RAV4 still beat the CR-V, the results were closer than they have been in some previous months.